The soft-shell crab sandwich could be the State sandwich of Maryland. Senate Bill 26 (HB 13) will be introduced and have its first reading on January 9. If the bill passes, the soft-shell crab sandwich would become the State sandwich of Maryland, effective Oct. 1, 2013. The bill is being introduced in the Senate by Richard F. Colburn, an Eastern Shore Republican who represents portions of Caroline, Dorchester, Talbot and Wicomico counties. The Cambridge resident acknowledged that the crab cake sandwich might have been a more obvious choice.

COLLEGE PARK - Of all the questions Brionna Jones has answered this season, of all the bizarre and banal inquiries - Does she speak? Can she jump? Is she finally ready? - there is one interview her father, Michael, likes best. It was early March, and the freshman was back home at Aberdeen High. A girls basketball playoff game was over, and the host Eagles had lost. A local reporter and cameraman approached Jones. They wanted an interview with the Maryland women's basketball team's starting forward.

Will there ever be a time when the Sun editorial board will present an objective case outlining all the pros and cons of an issue? Their latest failing is their position regarding teacher pensions and who should pay for them ("Kamenetz stands alone," Feb. 22). The assumption, it seems, by the Sun, Gov.Martin O'Malleyand now Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz is that local teacher pension costs should be paid at the local level. It seems to me that the Governor is trying to unload costs from his already bloated 35+ billion dollar budget, and he is using the pension cost move to do that, and proposes that somehow, in the Sun staff's opinion, an "elegant solution," would be to raise taxes in a way that would increase the "piggy back" payment back to the counties.

Shawn Nadelen found what he was looking for in No. 19 Towson's 9-1 victory over Mount St. Mary's on Saturday as the defense did not surrender a goal until midway through the fourth quarter and the offense was productive with nine goals and 40 shots. But the coach also did his best to keep the players grounded after beating a Mountaineers squad that graduated 95.5 percent of its goal scoring and has been further depleted by injuries this season. “You're excited about the win. Any win in Division I lacrosse is a good one,” Nadelen said Monday evening.

How's this for big-time movie critic endorsement: "Ghost in the Shell," which opens today at the Charles, is really cool.An elaborate Japanese animated feature, it's an extraordinary manipulation of image and narrative disguised as a thriller. Set in a "Blade-Runnerized" future (2029), it follows as a Japanese security team tries to prevent a cyber-criminal known as "The Puppet Master" from penetrating a secret diplomatic session. But that's only the top level: It turns out that the bad boy's ambitions are far greater and they involve the souls ("ghosts")

On June 6, 2009, PEGGY ANN SHELL; loving mother of Cheryl Belton and Timothy Shell. She is survived by a host of relatives and friends. Friends may visit the FAMILY OWNED MARCH FUNERAL HOME WEST, INC., 4300 Wabash Avenue, on Sunday after 10 AM, where the family will receive friends from 3 to 5 PM and on Monday, where the family will receive friends at 10:30AM followed by funeral services at 11 AM.

The Army has reversed course and decided against bringing an artillery shell containing mustard agent to Aberdeen Proving Ground for testing, opting instead to destroy the device near the clamming plant in Delaware where it was found. Officials had said the barnacle-encrusted, 75-mm ordnance, which dates to World War I and was dredged up off the Atlantic coast last year, could help the military learn what effect a marine environment has on the millions of pounds of chemical weapons dumped in the ocean before 1970.

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND -- Two munitions handlers were killed here yesterday morning when an explosion ripped through a munitions processing bay while they loaded propellant into a shell.The blast victims, both civilians, were identified as Norman L. Barcase, 40, of Abingdon, a 17-year veteran munitions handler, and John Zielinski, 41, of Aberdeen, who had worked with munitions only a few months.Both were pronounced dead at the scene.Proving ground spokesman John G. Yaquiant said the accident occurred about 11 a.m. in one of several processing bays at the East Ammunition Assembly Plant, one of two primary processing plants at the sprawling military facility.

The little ferry leaving Smith Island on a May morning is crowded -- about 10,000 passengers, I'd estimate.A few tourists, bound for Crisfield, sun themselves in the brilliant air; the rest of the passengers are soft shell crabs, agurgle in beds of sea grass, en route to salivating customers as far away as Tokyo.And this shipment is merely a single day's harvest from one town on the island, which in turn is only one of dozens of places up and down the Chesapeake Bay and the East Coast where watermen are reaping the brief bonanza of the phenomenon known as "the run."

Edgewater Village Shopping Center was evacuated yesterday while state, county and Army officials decided how to safely remove what appeared to be an old mortar shell that was brought to a storefront community policing station about 1 p.m.About 150 shoppers and employees from stores at the center on U.S. 40 south of Route 24 in Edgewood were evacuated for about 2 1/2 hours, said Sgt. Edward Hopkins, spokesman for the Harford County Sheriff's Office.Jim...

Customers at most stores in Baltimore would have to pay 10 cents for almost every bag they accept - whether paper or plastic - under legislation headed to the City Council for a vote next week. The legislation - which would apply to most purchases at grocery stores and major retailers such as Target and Walmart - cleared a key council committee Tuesday. The proposal is the latest in a decade-long effort against disposable bags that advocates say is intended to reduce litter and help the environment.

Date: Sept. 28 Her story: Diz Keller, 33, grew up in Severna Park. She works for a defense contractor. Her parents, Ellen McGee and David Keller, live in Severna Park. His story: Andrew Harrison, 33, grew up in Rochester, N.Y. He moved to Maryland in 2003 and also works for a defense contractor. His parents, Rick and Vicki Harrison, live in Rochester. Their story: Andrew and Diz were introduced through Diz's friends, who are twin sisters. At the time, one of the sisters was Diz's roommate and the other was Andrew's co-worker.

Some long-gone oysters from prehistoric times are going to play a role in restoring the Chesapeake Bay's current crop of bivalves. Maryland has purchased 112,500 tons of fossilized oyster shells for $6.3 million from a quarry in the panhandle of Florida, officials announced Friday. The first 25-car trainload has been offloaded into barges in Baltimore for the last leg of its journey to Harris Creek , a tidal Eastern Shore water way targeted by the state for an ambitious effort to replenish the bay's depleted oyster population.

Baltimore's top politicians are set to receive automatic 2.5 percent pay raises, following a years-old decision by an independent body. The salary hikes — which would increase the mayor's $159,380 salary to $163,365 — are tied to raises that city union workers receive each year, according to a 2010 decision by the Compensation Commission for Elected Officials. The cost-of-living increases would take effect in January following a legal vetting by the Board of Estimates on Wednesday.

Due to the single-elimination nature of the NCAA men's soccer tournament, many teams find themselves playing a conservative style that may offer fewer rewards but also reduces the risk of going home prematurely. Case in point: five of Thursday's 16 first-round games went to penalty kick shootouts, and two more were decided in overtime. That could be a testament to the narrow gap in talent level between teams in the postseason, but UMBC coach Pete Caringi Jr. said he wants to make sure that timidity is not part of the game plan when the No. 16 seed Retrievers (16-1-2)

Art Shell was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1989 after a 15-year playing career with the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders. A native of Charleston, S.C., Shell is also a member of the South Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. Tonight in Atlanta, Shell will be honored for his time at Maryland State - now known as UMES - with his third Hall of Fame enshrinement. The former Hawks tackle is set to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. "It ranks right up there with those [others]

The effects from the Art Shell-Jeff Hostetler sideline blowout during the Miami-Los Angeles Raiders game on Oct. 16 continue to fall, but this time on the networks.As you may recall, Shell, the Raiders' coach, and Hostetler, the Raiders' quarterback, argued near the end of the first half, reportedly about play-calling and the performance of the Los Angeles offensive line in full view of NBC cameras.Shell yanked Hostetler for Vince Evans for the remainder of the half, but reinstated him in the second half.

The parent - who was frustrated by discipline issues, the complexities of special education and her child's individual education plans (IEP) - was at the end of her rope. She was not satisfied with the response she received from her child's high school and was still in search of answers when she turned to Robin Shell, Howard County's first school ombudsman. "By that point, the parent had lost trust that the parent was being heard," said Shell. Shell, 44, met with the parent, school administrators and special-education teachers to get a better grasp of the situation.

Mama's on the Half Shell is now a bona fide, indisputable major success. That's fine. Mama's was a love letter to Baltimore from Patrick "Scunny" McCusker, a successful tavern owner and indefatigable nice guy whose wonderful life continues to be celebrated and honored almost a year after his untimely death. McCusker, who loved his city very much, wanted Baltimore to have a good, old-fashioned seafood house, something nice but not too fancy, where diners would feel as comfortable and satisfied as they did at places like Haussner's and Connolly's, a memorable seafood shack on the old waterfront.

The homes of the Mid-Atlantic's waterfront communities epitomize coastal style. Whether on the beach in Ocean City or a creek on the Eastern Shore, the look is casual and calming, creating a style that makes its owners feel like every day is a vacation. Gina Fitzsimmons, owner of Fitzsimmons Design Associates and the Annapolis-based home furnishings store Details of Design, specializes in coastal homes. She calls this look "Chesapeake Cozy. " "I find that people in this region gravitate to a more comfortable, functional, tailored interior with a more eclectic look and natural materials," she says.